Talinda Bennington Shares One of the Last Photos of Chester Bennington to Make an Important Point

On Thursday, Talinda Bennington shared a photo of her husband Chester Bennington and their family, taken just days before the Linkin Park singer died by suicide.

“This was days b4 my husband took his own life,” Bennington shared on Twitter. “Suicidal thoughts were there,but you’d. Never kmow.”

This was days b4 my husband took his own life.Suicidal thoughts were there,but you’d. Never kmow. #fuckdepression pic.twitter.com/2IPXxXJxmT

— Talinda Bennington (@TalindaB) September 7, 2017

The photo shows Chester surrounded by his children and smiling. He does not look “depressed” or the stereotype of what a suicidal person is “supposed to” look like. The thoughts were there, as Bennington said, but no one knew.

Since Chester’s death, Bennington has been incredibly active on Twitter, sharing tweets from others talking about Chester and using hashtags like #FuckDepression and #MakeChesterProud. The later hashtag was started by Chester’s Linkin Park bandmate Mike Shinoda, who was inspired by a similar hashtag created by Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, after her husband died.

“Do something great / kind / generous to #MakeChesterProud,” Shinoda tweeted, inviting fans to honor Chester’s memory with kind acts.

Bennington’s first message came a week after Chester’s death. In a letter to fans shared on Twitter, she spoke about her grief, and closed with a message for those who were grieving as well. She wrote:

May God Bless us all and help us turn to one another when we are in pain. Chester would’ve wanted us to do so. Rest In Peace, my love.

If you or someone you know needs help, visit our suicide prevention resources page.

If you need support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “HOME” to 741-741. Head here for a list of crisis centers around the world.